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IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Meeting of the British Medical Association.THE seventy-seventh annual meeting of the Britis

Medical Association made Belfast a veritable centre (

medical talent during the last week in July. The meetinwas a thoroughly successful one both from a scientific ansocial point of view, and there is no doubt that the Sta1visit to it of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and LadAberdeen gave the meeting an additional gezat.

University of Belfast.To provide for the expected larger demands upon it

resources next session the Senate has sanctioned th

expenditure of ;&1500 on the provision of better equipment for the departments of physiology and pathclogy, pathological laboratory, physics, chemistry, zoologyarchaeology, anatomy, botany, and geology. A notic,has been issued to graduates of the Royal University o

Ireland who are entitled under the Act to join the Queen’;University, and an application form for this purpose has novbeen sanctioned by the Senate and will be sent to any suclgraduate by the registrar on application. The Universitycontingent of the Officers’ Training Corps goes into camp aBallykinlar on the 31st inst. for a fortnight’s training. TheCommander-in-Chief in Ireland (Sir Neville LytteltonG.C.B.) has expressed his intention of himself making th<annual inspection of the corps during their stay in camp.

Vice-Regal Yisit to Lurgan.On Saturday, July 31st, after concluding their visit tc

Belfast, the Lord Lieutenant and Lady Aberdeen travelled tcLurgan, where the former opened a new park and the latterreceived in audience the ladies of the Lurgan branch of theWomen’s National Health Association of Ireland, whc

presented an address.Action against Medical Practitaoners.

At the recent Belfast Assizes, before the Hon. Mr. JusticeDodd, a smith’s finisher sued Mr. John S. Bryars and Mr.Charles A. Mateer (both of Belfast) to recover .g1000

damages for personal injuries alleged to have been causedby the negligence and want of skill of the defendants. It

appeared that as medical attendant to the Smiths’ Society,Mr. Bryars had been called to the plaintiff in May, 1907,’and came to the conclusion that he was suffering from abruise of the left hip due to a fall off a bicycle. Mr.Mateer saw the plaintiff in June of the same year, threeweeks after the accident, and came to the same conclusion.Finally, the plaintiff went into the Royal Victoria Hospital,where a radiogram was secured, which, however, showednothing in the way of fracture. Mr. R. Campbell (who sawthe case at the hospital with Mr. Mateer) came to the con-clusion that there was a subperiosteal fracture, which wasvery rare. Mr. T. S. Kirk, thinking there was a fracture,laid the bone open, but found the fragments perfectly inapposition but ununited. He cut away the loose bone, theeffect of which was to shorten the leg still further, but it hadremoved the pain and, in his evidence, Mr. Kirk said thatthe man would be able to go about his work, though crippledin his walk. The treatment adopted by the medical menpreviously in attendance did not, in Mr. Kirk’s opinion,prevent the union of the bones. The judge said that a meremistake was not evidence of incompetence on the part of apractitioner. The jury returned a verdict in favour of thedefendants and the judge expressed approval of theirdecision.August 3rd.

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

ON July 20th a bust of the late Professor Brouardel, who ON July 20th a bust of the late Professor Brouardel, who 1also held the position of dean, was unveiled in the cour id’honneur of the Paris Faculty of Medicine. The bust, which is a striking likeness of its original, is a fine work of rart in white marble and stands against the wall of the tsmall amphitheatre on one side of the entrance. M. n

Doumergue, Minister of Public Instruction, took the t

principal part in the ceremony and there was a very large b

attendance, including the widowed Madame Paul Brouardel,who sat facing the official days. Addresses were delivered

by M. Thoinot, M. Landouzy, M. Liard, M. Guyon, M. Roux,M. Lereboullet, and lastly, by the Minister. 1he bust has.been executed by Denys Puech ; it stands on a tall pedestal

i ornamented with a design that has become classical-

namely, two allegorical figures, one of which holds a wreath. of roses.

The Prevention of Eruptions after Subcutaneous Injectionof Serum.

At a meeting of the Society of Biology held on July 17th,M. Netter said that the giving of chloride of calcium by themouth for three successive days after the injection of anti-diphtheritic serum had a notable effect in diminishing theappearance of troublesome eruptions. In collecting the resultsof three series of observations he found that among 600patients who had taken chloride of calcium there were 18cases in which an eruption followed, or 3 per cent., whereasamong 648 patients who had not taken chloride of calciumthere were 109 cases in which an eruption followed, or

16. 8 per cent. He gave chloride of calcium in doses of1 gramme per day and continued the administration forthree days and even longer if several injections have beenperformed. In case of necessity it might be given in anenema. The efficacy of the chloride of calcium was muchless marked in the case of patients who had received intra-spinal injections of anti-meningococcic serum, even though,the doses of the chloride were larger than usual and theadministration continued for several successive days. Thepenetration of the tissues by the serum when given intra-spinally was no doubt exceptionally rapid and copious.

Pnettmonio Plague.At a meeting of the Academy of Medicine held on

July 20th Professor Chantemesse read for Dr. de Brun ofBeyrouth a paper on cases of pneumonic plague observed byhim in that city. He gave a very complete analysis of theearliest symptoms of this form of plague, these symptomsbeing almost always of very sudden onset and not presentingthe initial rigor. After describing the course of the illnesshe said that the majority of the patients exhibited agonisingterror due to consciousness of their approaching end. Deathtook place from the third to the fourth day and was accom-panied by symptoms of asphyxia which depended more ondecomposition of the blood than on changes produced in thelungs and heart. It was quite certain that the broncho-

pulmonary lesions played no more than a subsidiary part inthe symptomatology of the disease and did not account foreither its extremely sudden invasion or the phenomena of thefatal termination. In their clinical development these

lesions, whether insignificant or urgent, whether slightbronchitis on the one hand or broncho-pneumonia on

the other, were uniformly associated with septic&aelig;mia&mdash;acircumstance which explained the cyanosis observed duringthe first hours of the illness in patients not yet exhibitingany organic cardiac or pulmonary complication; it also

explained the agonising dyspnoea sine materia, the intenseand early alteration of the features, and the intestinalhaemorrhage. All the symptomatology of the disease unmis-takeably indicated the existence of septicaemia, and thebacteriological investigations of Dr. de Brun confirmed thishypothesis by demonstrating the presence of the microbes ofplague in the blood as well as by the positive results ofcultivation in bouillon and on agar-agar. It might thereforebe said that the pneumonic form of plague was in fact aspecially septicasmic form, characterised from the clinicalpoint of view by the coexistence of variable pulmonary andbronchial lesions. This view seems to cast a new light onthe disease and to suggest ideas which might be turned toIseful account in diagnosis.

Treatment of Acromio-clavicular Dislocations.Discussing the subject of acromio-clavicular dislocations

at a meeting of the Surgical Society held on July 21stVI. Delbet said that these displacements might assume twoorms-namely, either subluxation or complete luxation.n the former case the coraco-clavicular ligaments were

ntact and the movements of the arm were but little interferedwith, whereas in the second case the ligaments were

uptured, with well-marked loss of power as the result. Inhese circumstances some surgeons have sutured the liga-lents, but without much success. M. Delbet tried replacinghe ruptured ligaments by silver wires. These, however,roke asunder, and he then used silk threads, which were

423

found to answer very well up to the time of the patient l

taking his discharge, after which the case was lost sight of. Treyetrcble Cookery (

One of the ways of cooking vegetables formed the subjectof a communication made by M. Maurel and M. Caxcassagne.at a meeting of the Biological Society held on July 10th. In

(this particular method, called blano7timent des l&eacute;gumes, the first water was thrown away after the vegetables had beenboiled for 35 minutes, the natural consequence being animportant loss of mineral constituents. Experiments madeby these two observers with several kinds of vegetables, including cabbage, celery, asparagus, and beans, showed thaton an average their total saline constituents were diminishedby 36 per cent. and their potassium constituent by 50 per cent..after blccnch6ment continued for 30 minutes. As vegetablesprepared in this way seemed to be easy of digestion,especially by dyspeptics, the process might be advantageous,.especially in cooking for vegetarians.

Occurrence of the Mongolian Blue Patch irt a EuropeanInfant.

At a meeting of the Societe M6dicale des H&ocirc;pitaux held onJuly 16th M. Apert showed a suckling infant which had onthe lower part of its back a large bluish patch, the colourbeing deepest at the level of the upper limit of the inter-gluteal groove, and gradually fading where the patchextended over the lumbar region and flanks. He said that’90 per cent. of the new-born children of the yellow race hada patch of exactly the same kind, and for this reason

it had been called the Mongolian patch. It alsooccurred in new-born negro children, but in themit was very soon masked by the natural black pigment.It was, moreover, a regular characteristic of youngchimpanzees, orang-outangs, and many lower simi&aelig;. This

patch had been very rarely seen in children of apparentlypure European extraction. It was doubtful whether its

appearance in such circumstances indicated retrogressionin racial type or ancestral crossing with an individual

belonging to a coloured race at a period sufficiently remotefor it to have been forgotten. In the present case the

parents of the child had no knowledge of such an incident.The mother was dark-complexioned (br2cne), but not to anextreme degree; the father’s hair was of a deep chestnutcolour (ehatain fonc&eacute;) ; the infant was very dark-complexionedand had patches of black pigment on his ocular conjunctivas.The mother said that an elder brother, now deceased, showeda similar mark.

Reform of Pharmaceutical Studies.The Superior Council of Public Instruction has been con-

sidering the reform of the curriculum of pharmaceuticalstudents. The studies necessary for the diploma extend overfive years, of which the first is probationary and is spent in alaboratory and the remaining four are spent in the college.No candidate is eligible as a probationer until he is 16 yearsold and has become a Bachelor in the secondary schools. Theyear of probation is compulsory to all students, and those whohave gone through it satisfactorily are then submitted to apreliminary examination. During the four years of the

regular course students must keep 16 quarterly terms, andpass three preliminary and three final examinations. Thenew regulations will come into force on Nov. lst, 1910.August 3rd.

_

ITALY.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The National Congress of internal Medicine.WITH an organising committee (Comitato Ordinatore)

composed of the Senators Camillo Golgi and Luigi Mangia-galli (honorary presidents), Dr. Luigi Devoto (acting pre-sident), Dr. Carlo Forlanini and Dr. Maroni (vice-presidents),Dr. A. Boni (general secretary), and a strong working staff,this Congress, the nineteenth in the series, will hold its

sittings from Oct. 4th to 8th next in Milan under excep-tionally favourable auspices. The programme is an interest-ing one alike for the themes to be reported on anddiscussed and for the experts who are engaged to leadoff and to follow suit. The first on the list is the PresentState of Study, Scientific and Clinical on Cancer (reporters,

Professor Devoto, Professor Moreschi, and Professor Veratti) ;the second, New Horizons in the Pathology and Therapeuticsof Nephritis (reporters, Professor Maragliano and ProfessorCalabrese) ; the third, "Primitive" " Spleno-Megalic (reporters,Professor Bozzolo and Professor Micheli); and the fourth,Objective Review of Italian Discovery and Scientific Work(reporter, Professor Giuffre). In addition to this, there willbe a "conference," introduced by the Senator Professor

Mangiagalli, on the Mechanical Factor and the BiologicalFactor in the Pathology of Pregnancy, followed by a practicaldemonstration entitled, "Rontgenological Investigation ofthe Digestive Tract," by Professor Gortan. The English-speaking colleague is always courteously welcomed and enter-tained at these congresses, at none more cordially than inthe schools of the Alta Italia, where at Pavia, as at Paduaand Turin, his compatriots have studied to such effectivepurpose in the past.

The Polielinico of the University of Pavia.While on the subject of Upper Italy and its medical

schools I may mention that the great Lombard seat of learn-ing is about to add to its resources a Policlinico on the linesof its Roman sister, the plans for which, eight in number,are to be exhibited on Sunday next (August lst) in theAula Magna of the University before the technical com-mittee organised ad hoc by the Rector, the Senator ProfessorCamillo Golgi. On this committee, composed of seven experts,engineers, clinicians, and hygienists, there will sit as presidentDr. Luigi Pagliani, professor of hygiene in the University ofTurin, and as reporter Professor Caselli of the Academy ofFine Art in the same city. The Policlinico, among its manyfunctions, will fulfil that of instruction in every branch ofthe profession. Its site will be in one of the most attractive

quarters of Pavia, of which it is designed to be at once ahumanitarian institution and an artistic ornament. Itsestimated cost is at present about 3,000,000 fr. (&pound;120,000).

M?tsicot7terapia.The hyper&aelig;sthesia of our overwrought civilisation," as it

has been somewhat pompously designated, is evoking new,or adapting old, therapeutic remedies-among the latter,according to Dr. F. Stoduto in the Medicina Italiana, beingthat of music, which Plato theoretically, and the Father ofMedicine clinically, recognised as part of the equipment ofthe healing art.

As martial music is to fighting men,Should song be to humanity,"

sings the Victorian poet, and there is no doubt that the firstof these aesthetic resources, with its appeal to rhythm andharmony, has its salutary uses, whether to soldiers on themarch or to the public in quest of recreation, mental as wellas physical, in the concert room. Its extension to the treat-ment of the invalid, particularly in the weary hours of con-valescence, is a not unnatural development of the same idea-empirically recognised by the great Napoleon when heordered the band of the " Regiment d’Orient " to play underthe windows of the hospital, as well as by the militaryauthorities of France in the day now passing, from whom theregimental bands in the provinces have orders, once or

twice a week, to perform in hearing of the invalid wardsof the garrison. The eminent French alienists, Pinel andEsquirol, were fully alive to the efficacy of music in manycases of mental disease, melancholia particularly ; Dr.Fod&eacute;r&eacute; found in the same art a stimulant or a sedative,indicated in special forms of insanity ; and another

authority, Dr. Rocquas, attests its clinical value in hypo-chondria. Dr. Stodato has many other witnesses to tell us,or remind us, of in the same sense; while, in the normalsubject, the exercise of the voice in singing or, as Celsusrecommends, in elocution needs no vindication as an

adjunct to the promotion of health. The subject, as handledi by the Italian physician, is- a fascinating one and will, doubtless attract to its discussion many other experts who, are votaries at once of Hygiea and Melpomene.

July 30th.

THE University of Vienna has just conferred. the M.D. degree on a lady who had previously obtained theL Doctorate of Philosophy. This is probably the first time thatIa lady has held the double doctorate in any European Uni-; versity. The lady in question is the Countess Albertina, Fritzi Marschall.